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Tech that helped me fall back in love with birdwatching
A few months ago a friend of mine mentioned on Twitter she was getting into birding. And I thought, "I used to love birdwatching when I was little!" I'd go out and wander around with my little Golden Nature Guide and record sightings of the avians that made my large backyard their home. I rarely saw any birds and when I did see them, I had no idea what they were. I was a terrible birdwatcher. But now that I want to get back into the hobby, I don't have to be, thanks to modern technology that makes it feel more like playing a really advanced game of Pokémon Go. Here are some of the tools I've found most useful while walking through parks and forests searching for feathered friends.
Five apps to help you identify birds and their beautiful songs
Spring means migration and the return of birds to many parts of North America. It also means warmer weather and sunny days that are perfect for birding. Here is a list of apps to help you get outside and start learning about our feathered friends (all prices are USD). Field Guide for birds [iOS Universal; $0.99 to $19.99] There are several big-name field guides that include photos and illustrations to help identification, bird calls, range data and other information about each bird species. Included in this list of guides are Audubon, Peterson, Sibley and the all-digital iBird. Audubon Birds is a digital version of the popular paperback field guide. It has excellent images of the birds, range maps and multiple calls and songs for each bird. It also includes NatureShare which allows you to find and share local bird sightings. The Audubon Birds app is on sale now for $3.99, down from $14.99. Peterson is another pocket guide to North American birds that has made its way to the digital platform. Peterson has a full version of its paperback guide that sells for $14.99. The company also recently introduced a Pocket edition of its traditional guide that features a lower price tag ($0.99) and a fewer details. Sibley, another paperback guide, is known for its great illustrations and these details look great on the iPad and iPhone. The Sibley eGuide also has a handy comparison tool and a bird song repeat feature so you can call out to other birds while you are in the field. The Sibley eGuide to North American birds costs $19.99. iBird offers a variety of guides to suit your pocketbook and your geographical location. If you want a guide that covers 938 North American and Hawaiian species, then you should check out the iBird Pro Guide to Birds, currently available for $19.99. This version also includes audio songs and calls, a search feature that lets you save frequently used searches and iCloud syncing for your notes and favorite birds. There is also a Plus version available for $14.99 that has fewer search filters than the Pro version. iBird has affordable versions ($6.99) for regions like the Midwest, West, South and North. iBirds also has a backyard birds version that'll get you birding from the comfort of your deck longer for $2.99. Larkwire Birdsong Series [iOS Universal; $14.99 or less] If you want to turn memorizing bird calls into a game, then you should check out the Larkwire Birdsong series. Similar to the bird guides, Larkwire has several universal iOS apps to meet the needs of a variety of birders. A Master Birder version is available for both land birds and water birds. The master land bird version includes 394 sounds that cover 343 land species, while the water bird version has 253 sounds from 135 species of water birds. Between these two guides, almost all the major North American land and water birds are covered. Larksong's regional guides, core guides and backyard guide will introduce you to bird calling on a smaller scale. There's even a basic guide that includes 20 essential bird songs for free. Chirp! Bird Song USA+ [iOS Universal; $2.99] Chirp! Bird Song USA+ is part bird song app, part reference app. It uses GPS to find bird calls that are common in your location. As your bird-calling skills improve, you can branch out to include all 263 bird song and calls in the app. Besides the audio recordings, the app has snippets about each call and quiz feature to test your knowledge. Cornell Lab Bird Q&A [iPhone; $2.99] The Cornell Lab Bird Q&A app is an educational app about birds. It features a question-and-answer format that cover cool facts about birds, bird feeding, migration and more. These frequently asked questions are answered by the experts from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Birdwatchers Diary [iPhone; $12.99] Birdwatcher's Diary is a journaling app that allows you to log your bird sightings while in the field. Each entry includes field notes, a time stamp, location information and more. When you are done, you can upload your birding lists to eBird or back them up to Dropbox.
Carl Zeiss combines spotting scope, digital camera with the PhotoScope 85 T* FL
Esteemed lens manufacturer Carl Zeiss is breaking new ground by releasing the PhotoScope 85 T* FL, a spotting scope that also serves as a seven megapixel digital camera -- just in case "super-zoom" wasn't enough for you. With 15 - 45x magnification, a focal length of 600 - 1800 mm, a flip-out OLED display, and an IR remote for vibration-free release, it's great for birdwatchers but perhaps even better for the paparazzi. Look for it in Spring or Summer 2009 if you're planning to profit off the next Amy Winehouse meltdown.[Via PhotographyBLOG]
Kenko's Field Catch camera zooms in on your favorite bird
Fancy yourself a bird watcher do you? Good -- be they the hollow-boned or British-beach going variety, this is the cam to catch 'em. The Kenko Field Catch image spotting digital camera features a 14x, 70-mm optical zoom lens, 3.1 megapixel CMOS, SD slot, and optional power from a pair of AAs. In addition to a viewfinder, a high / low throw-switch on top allows for a quick 24x or 7x zoom on the 2.0-inch LCD. Thing is, this is the same VistaPix IS70 announced for star gazing back in January by Celestron -- a company which recently disappeared from the interwebs. It's expected to fetch ¥64,800 (about $589) and possible hefty fine depending upon use when launched mid December in Japan.Update: Celestron seemed to be having a case of server blues this morning -- they're back.[Via Impress]
Birdwatching MMOG to bore (excite) us to death
Finally, the exciting world of birdwatching from the comfort of your PC! Craig Newmark, the cat who founded Craigslist, is hosting a remotely-controllable robotic video camera from the back porch of his San Francisco pad. Thrill seekers can log on to help discover, photograph, and classify wild birds of the Sutro Forest using CONE technology -- Collaborative Observatories for Natural Environments. CONE puts the "MM" in this MMOG by allowing a number of users to share the webcam at the same time. Players also earn points for photographing and identifying rare species.While we admit the scientific and environmental applications for this "game" are vast, forgive us if we stick to World of Warcraft for the time being. If bird watching is your bag, however, mark your 2007 Wild Birds of Alderaan Calendar for the April 23rd launch.[Via Engadget]
Robot birdwatcher's job sucks more than yours
Nothing like birdwatching to put your hobbies and line of work into perspective -- you've really got it pretty well off. Take this robo-birdwatcher, for instance. Ornithologists have gotten wind of a recent ivory-billed woodpecker sighting, and have set up the bot in a snake and mosquito-infested swamp to watch for the bird -- which was thought to be extinct for more than half a century -- for months on end. The bird-bot has dual cameras that photograph the sky at 22 fps, and automatically sorts out all images but the ones with foreign objects in the sky, which usually turn out to be birds. To keep hunters from putting this poor bot out of its misery, its designer has affixed a radiation hazard sticker to it, which seems to have done the trick so far. Next up is a bot that can spot birds in a more complicated environments, such as the forest floor or in trees, but there's some serious algorithm design needed before that can become a reality.[Thanks, Dan]
